Principal Team's Message

Our reflections of Term 4 

This term students and staff have attended more outdoor education camps and excursions, school sport, anti-bullying, cyber-safety and wellbeing incursions. Our VM program have led whole school projects to revitalise a range of outdoor areas and prepare for plantings in the Jackson Creek area from a Landcare Grant they were awarded this year. Our Instrumental concerts have also entertained audiences over the past few weeks. As we write this article our Arts and Technology students are preparing for ‘Show Off ‘which will be a fabulous culmination of our student’s talent and hard work throughout the year. Our students have demonstrated outstanding participation in these activities and adhered to our school values of respect, resilience, responsibility and endeavour. 

We are incredibly proud of our school community’s academic achievements in 2023. Discussing the most recent work habits results is an excellent opportunity to reflect on our student’s success and identify areas that need improvement as we move into exams (in the senior years) and Head start 2024. 

Head Start 

Head Start commences on 20th November and runs for a two-week period, concluding on the 1st December. Head Start has historically proven to be a great opportunity for students to meet a majority of their new teachers, new classmates and reset or develop a renewed focus for success. With any transition there can sometimes be some nervousness and anticipation about new classes and their composition. Now is a great time for parents and carers to prepare their child through conversation about resilience, effective learning habits and the primary focus of attending school, which is to achieve success and growth in their learning. 

Student preparation for classes📕 

We continue to send a very clear message to students that there is great importance in being well planned, resourced and set up for classes. We ask that parents and carers continue to check in with their child regarding any equipment (pencil case, device, exercise books) that they may need for class and reference the recent work habits for ‘bringing equipment to class’. We are also reinforcing messaging to students regarding being out of class during class time. We encourage students to visit the toilet during their break times and communicate a ‘one in, one out’ arrangement, that sees students leave the class one at a time when required. Students should be looking at their schedule at the start of the day and collect their things at the start of period 1 and 3 to avoid unnecessary visits back to lockers in between periods.  

Works around the school - an update 🚧

The school continues to see a number of small to medium size projects take place around the school. These include

-Basketball court upgrade - New lines, new netball court, new bench seats, pol protectors and nets on rings, this is now complete and delivered. 

-Accessible works - VSBA lead works that involve car park modifications, auto door installation, concrete ramps, modified kitchen space and mod wood ramp to the learning common, which is almost finished. 

-Playground - VSBA led works that involve the building of a brand new playground at the site of the old cricket nets and is expected finish is around week 8 of term 4.  

-Toilets - installation of new modular toilets for both staff and students. We continue to work with the region to install additional toilets in the form of two small relocatable toilet facilities. We anticipate that these will be functioning on day 1 of 2024.  

Thanks to both students and staff for their patience and understanding during these projects listed above.  

Class of 2023 🎓

This term we farewelled our Year 12 cohort with a formal assembly, run through the whole school and last school day countdown. Our Year 12 students, families and friends also joined staff and school leaders for a wonderful BBQ in the sunshine to celebrate 13 years of school and reflect on their connections, achievements and enriching time at Sunbury College. We wish the class of 2023 all the very best for their end of year exams and future pathways and careers. We also look forward to further celebrations at the Year 12 Graduation on Thursday 30 November. 

PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing) 

This term all year 7, 8 and 9 students have completed PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing) for English and Maths. Students accessed the tests on-line through their own devices. Each PAT test provides quantitative and qualitative data on student performance, making the PAT ideal for understanding students’ current strengths and weaknesses, informing our teaching and learning, and monitoring progress over time. We would like to congratulate our students on the manner in which they conducted themselves during the testing.  

SWPBS Classroom Matrix Renewal 

Students have been working with connect teachers this term to review and contribute to updating the classroom expectations matrix. Many students were able to reflect and shared feedback that explained their responsibility in the learning environment and how they might practice that in the coming weeks as we move into Headstart.